Although Ky was technically a superhero with what seemed like a limitless potential for power, he still had the same responsibilities as any eighteen-year-old high school student.
As if it were any other day, Ky walked onto his school campus with sleepy eyes and his feet barely dragging behind him. Wanting to make up for lost time, Ky spent hours training, growing more powerful so he could keep up with those who'd been participating in Hero x Villain Online every day since release. After training almost all night, repeating the Domain, and stopping small crimes around the city, Ky was exhausted. So much so, that the time manipulator forgot that today was perhaps the most important day of his high school career.
Shuffling lazily into his classroom, Ky sat at his desk and scanned the room with his eyes. 'Why does everyone have scantrons?' His internal words connected the dots and Ky's eyes widened upon realizing what day it was. 'FUCK! IT'S FINALS!'
He was so caught up in the ARRPG, that he forgot how his final week of high school was upon him. If he wanted to graduate, he couldn't afford to fail any of his exams. 'Well, I'm definitely failing unless I cheat.' Ky looked around the classroom, gauging who was likely the most prepared for the exam. 'Luis had a 4.0, right? I'll borrow some of his knowledge for himself.' As if he and Luis were best friends, Ky grabbed his shoulder, using his Psychometry ability in the process. "My man! Luis!" Ky spoke to his classmate with a fake smile. Luis's eyebrows furrowed as he looked up at Ky, having never exchanged more than a sentence with him. As Ky's Psychometry ability began replaying Luis's night of studying in Ky's mind, it transferred all of the knowledge into Ky himself. 'Damn, he studied for twelve hours last night? No wonder he has a 4.0'
Before Luis could respond to Ky's awkward greeting, the time manipulator reversed time, finding himself back at his desk as if nothing had ever happened. 'Alright, I'm ready. I hope this works.'
Before long, Ky was seen speeding through the exam as if he'd studied for it all night long. Though he couldn't verbalize everything that he saw when he went through Luis's memories, he was still able to recall everything that was on the exam automatically. His confidence reached a point where he started dancing and humming to himself while bubbling his answers, getting strange looks from the teacher and his classmates. Though Ky wasn't an idiot, he usually spent all of his time playing video games, so his grades reflected it by being average. However, his teachers all saw his potential, which was why they were so hard on him, but it would seem like they would all be in for a pleasant surprise upon seeing how well he'd performed on his exams.
Ky repeated this process, finding the smartest kid in class before sapping out their memories and using them for himself. By the end of the day, many of the students seemed exhausted, but Ky was the odd one out, feeling rejuvenated. 'That was easy. Now there's only one class left. Spanish.'
Ky walked into his Spanish class with confidence, however, that confidence soon vanished once he saw that the seats were all lined up as if someone was about to give a TED talk. 'Oh, shit!' At this exact moment, Ky remembered what was meant to happen in this very classroom on this very day. It wasn't an exam, but a presentation. 'I can't steal someone else's memories for this! Everyone's presentation is different. Damn it, I was so close.' Inside Ky's mind, he saw himself on his hands and knees, weeping as his hopes of passing this class were about to slip through his fingertips. However, a metaphorical lightbulb appeared over Ky's head as he had a bright idea.
"Excuse me, Señora Cisneros. Necessito... usar la baño... Or el baño. Um... Por favor?" Ky's Spanish wasn't the best, but he got his point across. "Go." his teacher said in English, prompting Ky to run out of the classroom until he was out of sight of any students. Once he found himself all alone, Ky stretched for a moment before getting into a running position. He then paused time before sprinting for the public library that was down the street from his school.
After multiple time shenanigans, Ky eventually made it inside the library with plenty of time to spare, making his way to the language section toward the back. Before long, he stumbled across a Spanish-to-English dictionary and used his Psychometry ability on it. 'I hope this works.' To Ky's surprise, all the information inside the book was transported into his brain. 'Ay dios mío. Hablo español con fluidez. Al menos, un poco. Esto debería ser suficiente para aprobar la clase. Necesito encontrar un libro sobre Roberto Clamente.'
Ky ran for the history section, looking for any book containing the history of the topic of his project: Roberto Clemente, the first Puerto Rican to play for the MLB. Since Puerto Rican history was a common topic in New York, it wasn't that hard to find a book written about the baseball player. Using his Psychometry ability once more, Ky absorbed all of the information he could about Roberto Clemente before winding up at school once again.
Even though Ky was seemingly gone for a while, thanks to his time-warping abilities, he was only gone for about five minutes. As he waited for his turn to present, Ky anxiously rehearsed his presentation in his own mind. He didn't have any slides to show to the class, but he hoped that his impressive Spanish skills, at least for that of a Spanish III class, would carry him to an A.
Eventually, Ky's turn had come and he stood in front of the class empty-handed. "Ky!" His teacher looked upset as she shouted his name with a fiery tone. She didn't see any submission from him and he didn't even have any notecards in his hand. He was clearly unprepared. "¿Dónde está tu PowerPoint?"
Ky remained confident and waved her off. "No lo necesito." he told her as if he didn't have a single care in the world. Ky then cleared his throat and put on a focused face. "Hola, me llamo Ky Tempus..." Ky began his presentation, and without even a single notecard, he gave a detailed explanation of the history of Roberto Clemente. He could tell by the looks of his classmates and his teacher that they were surprised, which made his already confident smile grow three times the size.
By the end of it, he received a standing ovation from the entire class and his teacher was dumbfounded. "You see! I told you if you put your mind to it, you could learn Spanish!" his teacher told him. Like his other teachers, she knew he was capable of much more, however, little did she know he technically cheated.
"Well, what can I say? I just needed a little more motivation." With that said, Ky finished that class with an A after scoring highly on his final exam and though he would have to wait for the scores for the rest of his exams, he was certain that he scored highly on those as well.
With a confident smile and his hands in his coat pockets, Ky walked out of the school's entrance for the final time. All that was left was his graduation ceremony. Where most students had thoughts of what they were going to become after high school, many seeking jobs or applying for college, Ky only had one thing in mind:
'Now I can get stronger without anything holding me back.'